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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
:Zeratul: "I bring tidings of doom. The xel'naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key." :Jim Raynor: "The key... the key to what?" :Zeratul: "To the end of all things." :―Zeratul delivers a warning to Jim Raynorsrc Wings of Liberty is the name of the StarCraft II terran campaign and episode. It will be the first StarCraft II product and will be released separately from the two expansions, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void,Mike Farley. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II Single Player Is A Trilogy! Kotaku.com Accessed 2008-10-10.Eduardo Vasconcellos. 2008-10-10. Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games. IGN. Accessed 2008-10-10. occurring before them chronologically.StarCraft Legacy staff. 2008-04-04. StarCraft II Lore Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed on 2009-05-12 Wings of Liberty is expected to have 28 missionsBlizzard staff. 2009-11-19. Developer panel. StarCraft II. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-12-08. and 45 minutes of in-engine on-the-fly cinematics.Matt Samia, Cityhunter0505. 2009-08-21. (Blizzcon 2009) Blizzard's Cinematics: Behind the Scene. Youtube. Accessed 2010-01-31. A collector's edition will be available.We are looking to gather some good questions aimed specifically at the developers of StarCraft II about their experience in developing the game. Fun questions are a plus. Submit your questions to this thread and there is a chance they may be selected to be added in a special video interview with the developers. Feel free to shoot out questions to all parts of the team: Production, Design, Art, Programming, QA, etc. Please avoid specific gameplay type questions or other questions better suited for our traditional Q&A batches. Karune. 2009-04-15. Collector's Edition Questions for Devs. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-04-17. Development The Wings of Liberty beta launched on February 17, 2010.Avarius. 2010-02-17. StarCraft II Beta Is Now Live! Battle.net StarCraft II Beta Forum. Accessed 2010-02-17. The final release had been pushed back to at least the first half of 2010 to give adequate time to develop Battle.net.Cydra. 2009-08-05. StarCraft II Update. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-08-05. Development of the game itself is currently focussed on polishing the singleplayer, specifically briefings, newscasts, outros and videos for unlocked technologies.2010-02-17, Medievaldragon, interviews Starcraft II Team celebrating closed beta launch (Rob Pardo & Chris Sigaty). Blizzplanet, accessed on 2010-02-18 Campaign Campaign Overview The terran campaign will focus on Raynor's Raiders, which has become a mercenary force based in the Hyperion. The campaign starts at Mar Sara, site of the start of the original StarCraft.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 1). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-13-10 Jim Raynor is "the central hero and character of the campaign,"2007-08-03. StarCraft II Single-Player Campaign BlizzCon Preview. Gamespot. Accessed 2007-08-07. which focuses on his fight against the Terran Dominion as well as his relationship with Infested Kerrigan.Rob Pardo. 2008-10-10. Starcraft 2 Trilogy Announcement. Wegame.com Accessed 2008-10-12. Raynor's forces are out of money and morale, but Raynor has been trying to reverse this by acquiring alien artifacts and selling them to the mysterious . The arrival of Kerrigan kicks off all the events of Wings of Liberty.Chris Sigaty. 2009-12-04. Interview with Chris Sigaty. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-12-23. Zeratul and Kerrigan will both make appearances in the campaign and have a major impact in it.Dustin Browder and Thierry Nguyen. 2008-12-30. StarCraft 2 Wings of Liberty (PC, page 2). 1up.com Accessed 2008-12-31. The campaign will have a clear cut resolution. Mechanics The campaign is expected to take 20-60 hours to complete, depending on how "completist" the player is.Gunnar Petzall. 2009-06-29. StarCraft 2 page 2. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-06-29. In the terran campaign, players will be able to choose their own missions in the middle part of the campaign rather than progress through a set series. The missions are designed to emphasize player choice, such as which technology to buy and missions to play. The choices will be made obvious, and may affect the fate of some characters.2009-12-16. Exclusive Starcraft 2 Q&A (English). StarCraft 2 Source. Accessed 2009-12-16. Mission replays can be viewed and data displayed. Missions can even be played again in order to get achievements.Deep.Thought. 2009-08-18. StarCraft II Single Player Fact Sheet. StarCraft Wire. Accessed 2009-09-07. Character Interactions Jim Raynor will be the main character, and the player will direct him, determining to some extent who Raynor will become based on their choices. This is different from the "vague" player character from StarCraft. The player will have the choice of bending Raynor towards good (by taking missions from certain characters such as Ariel Hanson)Tom Phoenix. BlizzCon 2008: Starcraft II Lore Panel. StarCraft II Armory. Accessed 2008-10-12. or evil (by taking missions from characters such as Tychus Findlay and Gabriel Tosh).Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch, Chris Metzen, Andy Chambers. Behind the Lore of StarCraft II (PC). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-10-12. Interactions in briefings will also change, as Jim Raynor can interact with those around him (e.g. he can walk around the Hyperion, talk to characters like Tychus Findlay and his second-in-command Matt Horner and even play around with his armory's crane). The player can choose which characters to interact with. Often missions will be associated with different characters. For instance, after fleeing Mar Sara, Jim Raynor can choose between rescuing the abandoned Fringe World of Agria or retrieving an artifact from fanatical protoss on Monlyth. If the former mission if concluded, a new character, Ariel Hanson, will be added to the roster of Raynor's Raiders.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. In addition, Blizzard wants players to understand the universe as a whole, so they will visit planets, get a sense of the geography, learn who the major players and characters are and find out about political factions. Sets ]] Numerous between-mission set pieces exist, such as the bar on Mar Sara where Tychus Findlay was reunited with Jim Raynor, and includes features such as a jukebox (which enables music to be turned on or off), a bulletin board containing useful information (such as wanted posters) and nostalgic pieces (such as a picture of Raynor and Findlay in the Heaven's Devils), and a TV set which showed newscasts informing Raynor about events affecting the Terran Dominion.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 2). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. ''Hyperion'' Sets At least some parts of the Hyperion's interior will be used in the terran campaign of StarCraft II.2007-08-03. StarCraft II Single-Player Campaign BlizzCon Preview. Gamespot. Accessed 2007-08-07. Armory The Hyperion's armory is the favored hangout of engineer Rory Swann. It also contains a simulator to test new units and a construction crane.2007-08-12. Official Features Summary. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-08-17. In StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, players can buy new upgrades here.Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2009-08-19. StarCraft 2 Single Player Campaign: Videos, Screens, Details. StarCraft 2 Blog. Accessed 2009-08-29. Players will be able to "customize" their selections which suit their playstyles, for instance buying defensive upgrades for bunkers would suit a defensive playstyle.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. When a new upgrade is bought, a short video of the unit or ability is shown. Bashiok. 2009-11-16. Skill Tree Icons Should Have Demos. Diablo III General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2009-11-17. Bridge The bridge of the Hyperion is where mission briefings take place. Matt Horner is usually stationed here. The Battle Report screen allowed missions can be "replayed". Furthermore, alternate missions can be played, but will not affect the plot of a particular run through Wings of Liberty. Battle Reports of each mission are generated with stats ranging from probe count to the actual build order. Views of outside planets and star systems can be seen by selecting the "viewscreen".Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. Cantina The ship houses an on-board cantina, where Jim Raynor has been known to drink. The cantina features TV sets (to watch the news) and a jukebox stolen from a bar on Mar Sara. Newly-introduced characters often congregate here.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. Graven Hill Mercenary recruiter Graven Hill hangs out here.Zero. 09/08/17. July 20, 2009 Wings of Liberty Single Player Info. StarCraft Legacy. Last accessed: 09/08/17. Gabriel Tosh Gabriel Tosh hangs out here.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. He is an arms dealer.Mike Schramm, Chris Metzen, Andy Chambers. 2008-10-12. BlizzCon 2008: Starcraft II lore panel. Joystiq. Accessed 2008-10-12. Lab Players who delve deeply into the storyline can finish research objectives, a type of quest. Completing enough of them will grant access to new technology. This is separate from upgrading tech at the Hyperion ''s armory.Dustin Browder, Nick Brekon. 2009-06-29. First Details on StarCraft 2's Mercenaries, and How Wing Commander Influenced Blizzard. ''Shacknews. Accessed 2009-07-01. These are available in the lab.Zero. 09/08/17. July 20, 2009 Wings of Liberty Single Player Info. StarCraft Legacy. Last accessed: 09/08/17. Dustin Browder is currently unsatisfied with the available upgrades, believing them to be too weak.Webnet. 2009-08-17. The Wings of Liberty Experience. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-08-29. Blizzard is thinking of using "research points" collected from miscellaneous protoss and zerg relics instead.Dustin Browder et al. 2009-09-04. BlizzCon 2009 StarCraft 2 Fansite Q&A - Part 12/5. Youtube. Accessed 2009-10-07. It is known that researching alien artifacts will improve the stats of units.2009-12-18, IGN, StarCraft 2: All We Know. Nick Nolan, accessed on 2009-12-18 The scientist Stedman spends his time here.1ThorsHammer. 09/08/17. StarCraft II Mission Guide Preview. StarCraftWire.net. Last accessed: 09/08/18. In such spaces, such as the cantina, new characters can be found, and news reports can be watched.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. Mercenaries will be available in the campaign. They can be hired from Graven Hill for short-term contracts.Zero. 09/08/17. July 20, 2009 Wings of Liberty Single Player Info. StarCraft Legacy. Last accessed: 09/08/17. Unit and Upgrade Availability Units will become available in the campaign through missions.Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2009-08-19. StarCraft 2 Single Player Campaign: Videos, Screens, Details. StarCraft 2 Blog. Accessed 2009-08-29. The player can also gain access to upgrades for them which are purchased outside actual missionsFrank Pearce, Bob Colayco, Dave 'Fargo' Kosak. 2008-08-21. Blizzard Talks StarCraft II at Leipzig (PC) (page 3). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-08-23.Frank Pearce, Bob Colayco, Dave 'Fargo' Kosak. 2008-08-21. Blizzard Talks StarCraft II at Leipzig (PC) (page 4). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-08-23. in the Hyperion armory. Players will be able to "customize" their selections which suit their playstyles, for instance buying defensive upgrades for bunkers would suit a defensive playstyle.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. In addition, other upgrades that will never be seen in multiplayer, such as area-of-effect increases or the ability to add both a tech lab and a reactor to a barracks will be included in the system.Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch, Dustin Browder. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II: Making the Split (PC). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-10-12. Each mission completed gives access to a unit or upgrade to a unit. Each unit has two upgrades.Edwards, Tim. "StarCraft II: What A Rush." PC Gamer Magazine 189 (July 2009): 58-65. Raynor's Raiders will have access to some older technology, such as Wraiths, goliaths and medics; Raynor's been around for a while and would likely use the older technology. Protoss Mini-Campaign Wings of Liberty will include a protoss mini-campaignAlso keep in mind, that Wings of Liberty is focussed around the Terran storyline - even though we have a Protoss mini campaign in the game, you will learn a lot more about the Terran heros. This why it is good to introduce them to players who have not followed their every step the last years - or in Tychus' case, introduce him in general. Xordiah. 2009-11-24. Questions About Content Drop. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-11-24.AJ, LordofAscension, Joneagle X. 2008-10-11. Live Coverage. Starcraft.org Accessed 2008-10-17. based on Zeratul, focusing on the "greater threat".2008-10-13. StarCraft II Zeratul cinematic. Gameplanet. Accessed 2008-10-13. It must be unlocked.Webnet. 2009-08-17. Dustin Browder Q&A - Wings of Liberty. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-08-29. It will consist of a series of missions, and will include other protoss forces.2009-12-16. Exclusive Starcraft 2 Q&A (English). StarCraft 2 Source. Accessed 2009-12-16. However, it will not include all units, buildings or upgrades, as its purpose is to tell a story, not to prepare a player for multiplayer.I won't go into details, since we don't give out information on the campaign of StarCraft 2, but I can confirm that there will be a Protoss mini-campaign that lets you control Protoss units. This part of the campaign mode is of course way shorter than the Terran part, but it is very fun to have a very different playstyle to add even more variety to the game. I am sure every Protoss fan will love this part of the Campaign! That being said, the Protoss mini-campaign will not prepare you for the multiplayer as Protoss, you won't be using all units or getting to know buildings and upgrades. In general, even for Terran, it is not the objective of the singleplayer to show how to play the game effectively, it is to tell a story and do a lot of fun things, that would not be possible in multiplayer. The Challenges, mini-missions, that ask you to complete a very specific task, are more suited to give players the opportunity to learn how to use the units and how to play the game. Xordiah. 2009-12-23. Protoss short campaign in Wings of Liberty. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-12-23. The mini-campaign is not separate from the main terran campaign; rather, there are missions where the player plays as protoss.Just to clarify, this is not a separate campaign set apart from the Terran campaign. These are missions in the campaign where you play as Protoss. Xordiah. 2010-01-05. Protoss short campaign in Wings of Liberty (second post). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2010-01-05. Other mini-campaigns will also feature in StarCraft II. However, Raynor will remain as the main character of the installment. Mission Types Blizzard intends to create varied interesting missions, each with an interesting gimmick or unique strategy. The mission types will be varied; early missions are focused on acquiring credits and equipment.Dustin Browder, Destructoid. 2009-06-29. Destructoid Interview. Destructoid. Accessed 2009-06-29. One mission consists of a series of train robberies.Gamespy staff, Dustin Browder. 2008-12-23. StarCraft II (PC) (page 2). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-12-24. The third mission will be a hold-out mission. Other missions described include one where lava rises every five minutes, killing anything that isn't on high ground (Mining Your Own Business);Zero. 09/08/17. July 20, 2009 Wings of Liberty Single Player Info. StarCraft Legacy. Last accessed: 09/08/17. a mission where infested terrans emerge at night and force the player into a hold-out situation, but they become dormant during the day, during which the player tries to kill as many as possible (Outbreak); a mission where opposing terran and zerg forces seek to steal an alien artifact from within a hostile protoss fanatics base (Tooth and Nail); a mission in mission in which a lone ghost must influence a battle; a mission on ancient forbidden platforms or spaceship where the very space damages units,Stapleton, Dan. "StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty." PC Gamer Magazine 193 (November 2009): 10-13.Dustin Browder, Nick Breckon. 2009-06-29. StarCraft 2 Bonanza: Beta Still Not Dated, But New Screenshots, Singleplayer Details. Shacknews. Accessed 2009-06-29. a mission on a scrap planet where there are no traditional resources and scrap must be collected,Stapleton, Dan. "StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty." PC Gamer Magazine 193 (November 2009): 10-13. the "Thor" missionChris Metzen, Leord. 2009-08-18. Single Player Interview With Chris Metzen. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-09-12. and one mission will have walls of fire burn across the map and the player must complete the mission before being consumed by a nearby supernova.Dustin Browder et al. Världsexklusiv Starcraft 2-intervju! (17:25). Press 2 Play. Accessed 2009-06-17. Storyline thumb|300px|[[Infested Kerrigan confronts Zeratul.]] Zeratul encountered hydralisks (which he killed) and then Infested Kerrigan while investigating xel'naga mysteries. She had expected his arrival.2008-10-11. Starcraft II: BlizzCon 08: Opening Cinematic Teaser (CAM). Gametrailers. Accessed 2008-10-11. Mar Sara Jim Raynor was present on Mar Sara, fighting against a Terran Dominion takeover of a local colony.Zero. 09/08/17. July 20, 2009 Wings of Liberty Single Player Info. StarCraft Legacy. Last accessed: 09/08/17. Traveling back to Joeyray's Bar, he met up with his old friend Tychus Findlay. Findlay offered Raynor a business proposal; "liberating" alien artifacts from the Terran Dominion. The Dominion had recently prohibited transportation of such artifacts, and began digging them up on planets such as Mar Sara.Blake Ellison. 2008-10-10. StarCraft 2 Trailers Gather Everyone For Storytime (2nd trailer). Shacknews. Accessed 2008-10-11. The artifacts would be sold to his contact, the formerly legitimate . Raynor and Findlay's forces teamed up to steal one such artifact from the Dominion. The zerg invaded Mar Sara en masse, starting at the location of the dig. The Raiders defended a town until the Hyperion could rescue them. The zerg had, in fact, struck many Dominion worlds.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. Afterward, Raynor had to choose between rescuing the colonists of Agria or retrieving an artifact from protoss fanatics at Monlyth. thumb|300px|''Hyperion'' escapes Mar Sara. A Chilling Warning thumb|300px|Zeratul's warning. While seeking a drink in the Hyperion’s cantina, Raynor was surprised by Zeratul, who warned him that the "xel'naga return" and that the artifacts were the key.2007-08-03. StarCraft II Single-Player Campaign BlizzCon Preview. Gamespot. Accessed 2007-08-07. List of Missions :Main article: Wings of Liberty missions Characters *Jim Raynor (leader of Raynor's Raiders, Hyperion commander) *Tychus Findlay (marine) *Dr. Ariel Hanson (scientist) *Graven Hill (mercenary recruiter) *Matt Horner (second-in-command of Raynor's Raiders, captain of the Hyperion) *Stedman (scientist) *Rory Swann (chief engineer) *Gabriel Tosh (arms dealer, ghost) *Zeratul (Dark Templar prelate) Trivia Such is the scale of Wings of Liberty's storyline that Chris Metzen believes that it would take at least three novels to tell it were it in written form, though nine would be the preferred number. He considers the ending of the game to be one of his favourite moments out of all the work he's done at Blizzard Entertainment.2009-08-20, Starcraft II Story & Characters Interview. YouTube, accessed on 2009-09-08 In conjunction with Blizzard Entertainment, SteelSeries has developed a custom Wings of Liberty keyboard, specifically designed for macro-management and with labelled hotkeys.SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition Keyset StarCraft II. SteelSeries, accessed on 2010-01-13 Notes The game will contain a method for learning how to play the other races.Chris Sigaty, Samwise Didier. Blizzcon 2008 StarCraft 2 Press Q&A. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2008010-12. Videos References eConsumer Review of StarCraft II Category: StarCraft II Wings of Liberty Category: Games Category: Storyline